Harré has officially resigned from the Internet Party

It wasn’t clear whether Laila Harré was resigning from just the leadership or completely from the Internet Party. Last month she only announced stepping down as leader. On Facebook on 22 November:

As Internet MANA members move into decision mode I have shared my own intentions today. I will step down from Party leadership in December. I personally favour a network, rather than electoral party option. However, I intend to take a guiding (rather than leading) role in this process so that members have plenty of chance to generate options and decide between them.

I want to acknowledge all the member and supporter engagement that has come through this page since May 29 – I am not leaving the frontline, just the post. So I’ll keep sharing here (if Facebook lets me stop being a politician!).

Today I’ve announced that I will be stepping down from the Internet Party leadership in December. This will happen once options for the future have been developed for discussion and decision among members.

Again, just the leadership.

Next time around I’d like to think we can do better than just a political jigsaw. To that end I am stepping away from the electoral focus for now to pay more attention to the “why” of the “Why we need change” question.

A hint she could be separating further but not clearly.

And in in an interview on The Nation:

Are you still here as leader of the Internet Party?

Yes, I am here as leader of the Internet Party, and at the moment I’m guiding the party through a review of the future. I’ve also made a personal decision that once that review is completed, I will step down from the leadership of the Internet party.

Again just stepping down from “the leadership of the Internet Party”. But she also said she would love to be in Parliament.

Look, I would love to be in parliament. I would love to be articulating the kind of fundamental agenda and values that Internet-Mana promoted in the election campaign, and I’m not prepared to say never again to being personally at the front line.

She has just announced on Twitter:

@lailaharré

Officially resigned as @InternetPartyNZ Leader and as a member today. Onwards!

Today I have officially stepped down as Leader of the Internet Party. I have also resigned my membership.

This year many of us saw the opportunity to connect some newcomers to progressive party politics (in the form of the Internet Party) to a kaupapa Maori movement with a solid base in working class and poor communities – MANA. I have already shared my analysis of the election result on this page and elsewhere.

I first joined a political party 32 years ago and have always promoted participation in parliamentary politics. For major progressive gains to be made our parliamentary parties need to be rooted in real constituencies and supportive non-party institutions which build wide support for our values and ideas.

That’s what I will keep working on. I really enjoyed the interactions that I had through this year – online and on the road. I hope you will stay connected.

Her next plan is a road trip around the North Island next February with her sister to engage with grass roots supporters.

So I’m going on a journey in February with my sister. It’s called ‘Rethink the System’. We’ve got a website. Rethinkthesystem.org. We’re going on a sort of pilgrimage meets activism to connect with people over fundamental social change issues.”

There’s plenty of time before the next election but her party options to help her get back into Parliament may be limited. Would she rejoin the Internet Party again in 2017 if they offer her enough money? Dotcom says he’s broke, and presumably he’ll be more broke if he starts an Internet Party to contest the US election in 2016.

Harré may not be welcome at the Green Party after she deserted them and took their policies with her to the Internet Party.

The Mana Party is an obvious option andn it may be the only one, if they survive and contest the next election.

Another party could emerge but the chances of getting into Parliament for any new party are very slim.

Harré’s resignation may have resigned her to being a non-parliamentary political activist.